Mushrooms - Beracha

OU Kosher

QUESTION: What beracha is recited on mushrooms?

ANSWER: The Gemara (Berachos 40b) states that the beracha for mushrooms is shehakol. Although mushrooms grow on the ground, nevertheless their beracha is shehakol because they do not draw nutrients from the earth. Nonetheless, the fact that a mushroom grows on the ground is halachically significant. Following are a few examples.

  • The Aruch Hashulchan (204:5) and Kaf Hachaim (204:2) write that if one accidentally recited borei pri ha’adama on a mushroom, the beracha is valid bidi’eved. Even though mushrooms do not draw nutrients from the earth, they do grow on the ground, and “pri ha’adoma (fruit of the ground) is a valid description, 
  • Harvesting a mushroom on Shabbos is a violation of the melacha of kotzeir since the mushroom grows on the ground, even though it does not draw nutrition from the ground.
  • An insect that hatches in a harvested fruit or vegetable may be eaten while it is still in or on the fruit or vegetable (YD 84:4) because it is not a “sheretz ha’aretz” (a crawling insect on the ground). Nonetheless, the Rema (YD 84:6) writes that worms that grow in mushrooms are forbidden. Even though the beracha on a mushroom is shehakol, they are treated as vegetables that are attached to the ground and therefore the worms are forbidden. 

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.